Several days later...

Pepper Potts sat at her office desk, staring at the tidy stack of papers lying in front of her. It was only 9:30 AM and she'd already plowed through a mountain of written material. This was what was left—contracts, all contracts, all requiring Tony Stark's signature.

Which wasn't normally a problem. Pepper had long ago perfected the art of forging Tony's signature, to the point she didn't even need to look at the original source to ensure accuracy. But these were all oddball side projects that Tony never mentioned to her, or if he had, she hadn't bothered to listen carefully enough to know what the status of the work looked like. Maybe Tony wanted to continue, maybe he didn't. Either way, there was money involved, and Pepper wouldn't presume to guess what Tony wanted to do about them.

And, he'd been studiously ignoring her phone calls, emails, and texts. So, she did what she'd done umpteen times before—she grabbed her brief case, stuffed the papers into it, and headed for Stark Tower.

When she arrived, JARVIS greeted her. "I'll let Mr. Stark know you're here, Miss Potts."

"No," Pepper said firmly. "I don't want to give him a chance to sneak off. Just tell me where he is—I'll announce myself."

"Yes, ma'am. He's in his office at the moment."

"Thanks, J."

Pepper made her way to Tony's office, noting as she approached that the door was wide open. Good. She moved stealthily, hoping to catch him playing Tetris or watching a movie on his tablet, all the better to heighten the guilt effect with, but he wasn't at his desk or on the couch. She tentatively took a step inside and saw him standing by the window, looking pensive.

Pensive. Tony could be a lot of things, but pensive wasn't one of them. If he was mulling over a problem, his mouth was going a mile a minute, as he was totally an external processor. If he was angry? Same thing. If he was sad? Well, Pepper never knew Tony to be sad, exactly, but when he was, he was in his lab, adding a subwoofer to one of his suits, or trying to invent a robot that would make hand-tossed pizza on demand. But this... Pepper wasn't sure what this was.

"Hello?" she asked.

Tony didn't react immediately. He continued to stare out into the city for a long moment before turning to greet her. "Hey, Pep. Didn't know you were coming by."

"Well, how would you, you haven't answered any of my..." She quickly dropped the chiding tone. It clearly wasn't necessary—Tony didn't look to be in a work-evading mood at the moment. Instead, she reached into her case and pulled out the sheaf of papers. "I have some stuff to go over with you."

Tony raised an eyebrow and gave a wry grin. "Really? Now? It's only 10:00 AM. You usually let me squander my day until well into the afternoon."

Pepper sighed. "Yes, and I've been going easy on you for way too long. It's about time you got back into running your own company—a little bit, at least." She waited for Tony to smart off or attempt to distract her, something, but he just nodded.

"Okay." He went to sit on the couch and beckoned to her. "Lay it on me."

Pepper joined him and set the stack on the coffee table before fixing him with a critical look. "Okay, this is just weird. What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?"

"You're acting like they just shut down the power grid. What's the matter, what happened?"

Tony shrugged. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Sorry, not buying it. Come on, tell me."

Tony avoided her eyes and reached for one of the papers. "I'm fine, I promise. What's this? Oh, yeah, this guy's a crook, I'm not signing that. Now, this one—"

"Tony." Pepper had been running through a list of possible reasons for Tony's morose disposition and had eliminated every known factor that tended to cause him dissatisfaction. Now, she was moving on to the unknowns. What was different? What had taken place in Tony's life that she hadn't been party to?

Oh. Yeah.

"It's Loki, isn't it?" she asked. "You two have a fight?"

Tony flinched. "Nope."

A worried expression crossed Pepper's face. "Oh, God. Is the baby okay? I mean, I still don't quite believe there is a baby, but is it all right?"

Tony smiled slightly. "The baby's fine, so far as I know."

"Well, what's wrong then?"

"Nothing, everything's great."

"No, it's not. I've never seen you like this. Something's on your mind, and it's not like you not to bitch about it or hole up in your lab applying algorithms to it." She put a hand on his shoulder and her voice softened. "Tony, you can talk to me, you know that."

Tony absently patted her hand. "Yeah, I know. It's just... I don't know what's wrong, exactly."

"Give me a ballpark."

He looked rueful for a moment before answering. "Okay, it's Loki."

"I knew it! Now we're getting somewhere. What'd he do? Is he relapsing? Cooking up some kind of power play to take over the Garment District and make everyone wear green and gold on the runway this year?"

An appreciative chuckle escaped from Tony and he seemed to relax a bit. "No, nothing tragic like that, thankfully. It's just..." He shrugged again.

"Is he pining for Asgard? Plotting revenge against poor Thor? Oh, I know, it's pregnancy related—he wants interplanetary pickles and ice cream and you can't figure out how to get home delivery from Jotenheim, am I right?"

"Ha, I wish it was that simple. No, no. Loki's not causing any trouble. He's fine." Tony sniffed reflectively. "He's great. In fact, he's been... pleasant."

Pepper blinked. "Pleasant?"

"Yeah."

A cold shiver of unease went through her. "Pleasant. Loki's being... pleasant."

Tony gave a nod. "You see the problem."

"Mm."

"I mean, Loki at his worst... Well, you just have to look at the footage from the attack on New York to get a feel for that. But, Pep—when Loki's at his best, he's... amazing. Wickedly charming, funny as hell, sexy as shit—"

"Whoa! TMI, Tony."

"Okay, but he's all that, and more." Tony stood up and began pacing as he warmed to the subject. "He's kind. He cares about stuff, including, like, well, me. He's vulnerable, he's sly, he's brilliant, he's a whole bunch of fantastic things, but one thing he's not? Is pleasant. Never. He doesn't have a wishy-washy bone in his skinny little body. If he's happy, he's on top of the world, if he's down, he's a black cloud, and if he's mad, he's a damn minefield, but he's always one or the other, and this—this calm, cheery, accommodating bullshit? It's freaking me out." Tony's lips twisted into a worried grimace. "I think he's planning to leave me after the baby comes."

"Oh, Tony, come on. I can't say I know him real well, but it doesn't take much to see that he loves you. Why would he leave?"

"I don't know. Some fucked-up idea that the kid and I'd be better off without him, maybe?"

"I don't believe he believes that, and anyway, why would he be so, uh, pleasant if he was planning to leave you?"

"To throw me off the scent! He's fiendishly clever, remember? If he lulls me into a false sense of security, he can sneak off into the wacko-sphere while I'm busy with the baby, and I'll never see him again." Tony's voice had taken on an aggrieved tone. "I can't lose him, Pep. What am I going to do?"

Pepper gave him a look of infinite patience. "Well—this is just a crazy idea, but have you tried talking to him?"

"Yes!" Tony ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up crazily. "Yes, I've asked him what's wrong. 'Nothing,' he says, 'Thanks for asking,' he says. And, you know what else? He doesn't demand things anymore. It's all 'Please,' and 'When you have a moment,' and 'If you wouldn't mind.' And then, he's pathetically grateful—'I'm so sorry to have bothered you,' and 'I do so appreciate your kindness,' and 'I hate being such a burden." Tony gave an unfocused stare at the floor. "I mean, shit. I didn't even know he could string words like that together in a sentence."

A puzzled frown came over Pepper. "That really is weird."

"I know! And, it's not just that—all he does is sleep."

"Wow. Really?"

"Oh, he slinks around, avoiding me when he can. He reads, watches bad TV." Tony threw his hands in the air. "I can't figure it out! He's not angry, he's not depressed, he's just... pleasant. And, I hate it."

"I'm going to go talk to him," Pepper said briskly as she stood up.

"Huh? What good'll that do? I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but I don't think you're exactly his favorite person."

"I know. So, we'll see if he keeps up the pleasant act around someone he doesn't give a damn about, or if he goes back to being his usual snarky self. Maybe that'll give us an idea of what's going on."

Tony pursed his lips, nodding. "Hm. Well, okay. He was in the den, last time I saw him. Asleep. So, you know—don't startle him or anything."

"I'll be careful."

Pepper approached the door of the den with the same stealth she'd used at Tony's office. She saw Loki sitting cross-legged on the couch, his fingers entwined, hands cradling his swollen belly. He was intently watching television.

Pepper paused to take a deep breath before knocking firmly on the door frame. "Hello?"

Loki looked up, and she saw a flash of displeasure cross his face. But, it was quickly replaced by a neutral, blank-eyed smile. "Ah, Miss Potts. How lovely to see you. Please, come in. What can I do for you?"

"Well... I haven't seen you for a while, and I just wondered how you were doing." She left the safety of the doorway and ventured in closer. "How are you? What have you been up to lately?"

Loki glanced down at his stomach. "Gestating, mostly."

"And, watching TV?"

Loki chuckled. "I'm afraid so. It started out as merely sordid curiosity, but it's become something of a vice. I may have to join a 12-step program once the baby's born."

Pepper grinned, content to share a bit of good humor with the sorcerer before pressing further. "I imagine you won't have a lot of time for it then," she said casually.

"No, I suppose not." Loki glanced at her, and then gestured at the other end of the couch. "Please, sit down." Pepper took a seat and Loki turned back to the television. After a moment, he drew in a quick breath and gave a slight start, covering the side of his tummy with his hand. "Norns..." he said under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked. She was surprised to realize she was actually concerned.

Loki grinned sheepishly. "Nothing. This baby... He's very active these days, and seems to take particular pleasure in bashing me in the ribs. Ow..." He shifted uncomfortably and Pepper leaned in and saw a little ripple run along under the rather snug t-shirt he was wearing.

"Oh, wow. I can see him moving!"

"Yes, he's making quite an impression on my insides." He looked at Pepper's genuinely interested expression and asked, "Would you like to touch? Don't feel obligated. But, Tony seems to find it intriguing, so... feel free."

Pepper smiled uncertainly, and gently laid her palm over the area. Instantly, a very definite kick met her hand, and she gasped in delight. "Wow! That was really strong."

"How strange. It seems to be responding to you." Loki smiled wryly. "Already so sociable, just like Tony. I suppose that's a good thing."

Pepper leaned back, not sure what to say to that, and saw a mildly pained look cross Loki's face. He began rubbing a hand in circles over his belly.

"Everything all right?" Pepper asked, indicating his motion.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Skin's a little dry, that's all. It feels tight."

"You should tell Tony to get you some honey butter cream. A friend of mine used it to get rid of stretch marks, and she loved how it made her skin feel."

Loki was now looking at her quizzically. "I'm sure Tony will get right on that."

Pepper made a "pshaw" noise. "Right. Never mind, I'll order some for you and have it delivered."

A slightly aghast look came over Loki. "You don't have to do that."

"It's no problem, I want to. I know we didn't get off to the greatest start, but, well... I'd be happy to do something for you now, if I can."

Loki was clearly about to protest, but he almost physically choked back the words. "Ah... Well, thank you. That would be very kind."

Pleasant. Shit, Tony was right, he's being pleasant. It really was disconcerting, but Pepper plowed ahead. "Tony tells me you've been sleeping a lot."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I have. Not so unusual though, is it? Expectant people need a lot of sleep."

"Uh-huh. But, I think he's kind of worried. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"Yes, of course." The displeased look crossed Loki's face again, but again, it quickly faded.

"Well, that's good. But, still, I think you should mention being so fatigued to your doctor. You probably need vitamins or something."

An actual frown came over Loki, reminding Pepper of the Loki of their long-ago pre-dinner conversation. Good. Maybe he'll crack and we can get to the bottom of this, she thought.

But, again Loki's expression evened out and he smiled ruefully. "I don't have a doctor."

A little shockwave of disbelief went through Pepper, followed by a grim resolution to shake Tony Stark like a rag doll."What?Are you serious? You're what, six months along? You need a check-up! An ultrasound! What if you have gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia? And, don't you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Now, Loki appeared frankly horrified. "Miss Potts, I can't very well visit a Midgardian physician—it would draw far too much attention. And, I have no idea what those wretched afflictions are that you mentioned, but I seriously doubt that I'm subject to them. And, as for whether it's a boy or a girl, if it bears sufficient Jotunn blood, it will be both. Otherwise, I'd just as soon be surprised. So... No doctor, no. But, thank you for your concern."

Loki had kept his voice measured and appeared perfectly calm, although Pepper noticed he was now clenching his fists tightly. She forced herself to refocus on her original mission to get Loki to drop the meek act and tell her what was going on with him. It sounded like he was getting close to the edge. Maybe he just needed a little nudge... She took a moment to appear to give Loki's words due consideration, and then ran a hand through her hair in a carefree manner.

"Well, I see your point, and I'm sure you're right. But I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of you going full term without at least doing some basic medical screening." She chewed her lip thoughtfully, brightening when an actual solution came to her. "I know—I'll get Bruce to come over here and have a look at you. He did quite a bit of pre-natal care while he was in India."

Pepper took care to observe Loki's reaction, but all she got out of him was a severe tightening of the lips. And, after only a couple of seconds, even that was gone, and Loki smiled benignly at her.

"That's a lovely thought, but I'm perfectly fine, and I'm sure Dr. Banner has better things to do. Please don't trouble yourself."

"Oh, it's no trouble." Pepper got out her phone and punched Bruce's speed dial number. "I'll have him over here in just a few." She smiled cheerfully, and Loki managed to keep his lips clamped together in a rictus smile.

But, inside he was boiling.

Bruce arrived in short order with his medical bag in hand and Pepper took him aside along with Tony, and together they gave him a run-down on the situation—Loki's apparent exhaustion, his withdrawal from the outside world, his oddly genial demeanor, and his tight control over his emotions.

"It's all just weird," Pepper said in summation. "And, on top of all that, he hasn't even seen a doctor about the pregnancy." She shot a disgusted look at Tony, and he shrugged helplessly.

"I tried to get him to see someone, but he flat out refused, and it didn't seem worth a fight. I mean, he seems healthy enough—physically."

Bruce was mulling over the information, but at Tony's remark, he looked up. "Yeah, but a lot of pre-natal natal conditions are asymptomatic until it's too late. There are things that can harm both the, uh, mom and the fetus which are pretty easy to correct if you catch them in time. Of course, I have no idea what sort of physiology we're dealing with here. But I'll be glad to take a look at him."

Tony emitted a low groan. "Which would be fine, if you can get the Knocked-Up One to stay put long enough to see him. Lately, he has a way of disappearing when threatened with guests. What are you planning to do, anyway?" he asked Bruce.

"Draw some blood, collect urine. Check the baby's position, get an idea of its size. That'll involve touching his belly, so that might be tricky... I doubt he's going to let me near his actual body." Bruce wrinkled his brow.

"You're going to have to talk him into it, Tony," Pepper observed.

Tony sneered. "Yeah, right, that should be easy."

Bruce scrubbed at his jaw thoughtfully for a moment. "Listen, just convince him to let me take the samples. I think if I have a chance to talk to him, I can get him to trust me, once we're past those hurdles."

"Trust you? Really? After you put a Loki-shaped indentation in my concrete floor?"

Bruce shrugged. "We got along fine at your dinner party, remember? "

A doubtful look lingered on Tony's face, but he nodded. "Okay. I'll go talk to him. Maybe he'll throw a vase at me or something, which would be great—if I don't get a dose of the old Loki soon, I think I'll blow a gasket." He strode out of the room, leaving Pepper and Bruce to stare uncertainly at each other.

Loki was taking deep, calming breaths. When Tony came into the room, he closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind. Things had been going so well, he was determined not to ruin them now.

"Babe?" Tony asked softly.

"Hello, Tony." Loki offered a serene smile. "Has Miss Potts left yet?"

"Uh, no. And... Banner's here." Tony sat next to Loki and slid an arm around him. "He came to do some pre-natal tests. Is that okay?"

It most certainly is not, Loki's brain screamed. But, he simply shrugged. "I'd prefer not. There's no point. I told you, I'm not susceptible to Midgardian illnesses."

"No, not so far. But, you've never been pregnant before, right?"

"No, but—"

"So, you don't know for sure. Listen, it's no big deal. He's going to have you pee in a cup, and take a little blood, that's all."

The expression on Loki's face would have been comical if Tony hadn't been so tense. But, when Loki spoke, his voice was low and controlled. "I see. Blood letting." Loki nodded stoically, his lips in a twist. "I had no idea Midgardian medical practices were so advanced."

"It's not bloodletting, it's just a little stick with a needle. Then Bruce can take the samples to a lab and have them analyzed. Just to rule things out." Tony drew Loki close and hugged him. "Baby, I don't want anything to happen to you, and if these tests can catch a problem before you get sick or—"

"Whatever you think best, Tony." Loki seemed to withdraw into an invisible shell and Tony held him tightly for a long time, wishing he could look into Loki's mind and see whatever the hell it was that was causing him to be so unnaturally passive. But, he decided to take what he could get at this point, and gently released him.

"Okay. I'll have Bruce come in. Now, don't worry. He knows what he's doing, and the green guy isn't going to drop in. It'll be fine." He kissed the top of Loki's head and went to fetch Bruce.